


Cupgaykes

by beanstalks



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cooking, Cuddles, Fluff, M/M, byakuya has fish, gay ppl, hina is mentioned once, hopes peak exists but it's a normal school, i wrote this for my friends, they can't cook, they're cute and i have brainrot, this is literally just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26283247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanstalks/pseuds/beanstalks
Summary: The first time Makoto makes Byakuya genuinely laugh - coincidentally the day it is revealed that Byakuya can't cook.
Relationships: Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 16
Kudos: 150





	Cupgaykes

**Author's Note:**

> hi... i wrote this for my best friends :) i lov you guys  
> this is just gay people mucking around all fluff all yearning  
> yes the word count is 6969. i am immature.  
> i hate dr <3  
> i KNOW the title is dumb okay i didn't have any other ideas shh

“Add more flour,” came the expected jeer from the bench where Byakuya was leaning. Makoto glanced back at him, then eyed the measuring cup. He was sure he’d gotten it right; he’d checked the recipe about a dozen times to be sure.

“Are you sure?” Byakuya scoffed in response.

“Of course I’m sure.”

Makoto shrugged and put more flour in the bowl until Byakuya made an affirming noise. They’d spent pretty much all morning deciding on a recipe after Byakuya decided to give in to Makoto’s pleading that they cook together. Well, ‘together’ was an overstatement. Byakuya just wanted to loudly judge everything Makoto was doing, even if it _was_ what the recipe said. Byakuya had taken a lot of time searching through other recipes and hundreds of reviews until he settled on the one Makoto had originally suggested, and yet he was still changing things up.

Luckily for Makoto, Byakuya’s extensive kitchen had just about every ingredient he could have asked for. From durians to squid tentacles, pretty much anything was fair game, not that Makoto would ever know what most of them were or how to use them. Byakuya had cleared out his family’s personal chef and told them to take the day off, something that Makoto wasn’t really sure was a good idea. _Were cupcakes good for dinner??_

The kitchen was large, with a massive bench in the middle and marble countertops. There were two fridges and a walk-in pantry, and more cupboards with silverware, bowls and plates than Makoto had ever seen in his life. There were large windows with intricate drapes that let in just enough sunlight to be pleasant and not blinding, and sophisticated marble tiling all around that he felt privileged to be standing on and looking at. Everything about Byakuya’s kitchen was pretentious and left Makoto with the air that he was somewhere he didn’t belong. Byakuya had been the one to invite him over and hadn’t mentioned how ‘privileged’ he was to be in the great Togami household like he’d expected, but the whole place just intimidated Makoto. He much preferred his own home, with worn out couches and scuffed benches. It felt lived in, instead of looking like a show home. The strange churning he usually felt in his stomach whenever he was around Byakuya was as prevalent as always, slightly worse now he was in his house.

He’d borrowed one of their aprons in some kind of effort to fit in; most were plain white, but some were more exciting, with floral designs or simple decals. Byakuya had originally told him to wear a white one, but after Makoto complained it was boring, he’d given him a green one.

“Well?” Byakuya brought him out of his thoughts. “What are you stopping for? Get on with it.”

“Oh! Sorry,” Makoto shook his head free of pondering and looked back at the bowl in front of him. “What was next?” He’d already forgotten. This was why he read it so many times over.

“You’re the one with the recipe,” Byakuya brushed him off, opening a small book and continuing to read from somewhere around the middle. Makoto sighed, pulling out his phone and skimming over the ingredients yet again. _Would it hurt him to help?_

“Where’s the granulated sugar?” Makoto asked half-hoping Byakuya would get it for him.

“In the cupboard,” He didn’t even look up from his book. Makoto traipsed over to the massive walk-in pantry and began looking. After a while, he returned with granulated sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at him, but Makoto didn’t know what he wanted, so he put the ingredients down and moved on.

After sifting them together (and adding a lot more baking soda than was on the recipe at Byakuya’s request), Makoto was at a standstill once again. He needed to separate egg whites, but he only had a vague idea of how to do that, and no idea where the eggs were.

“Um, Byakuya?” Byakuya glanced up at him.

“What?” He didn’t sound at all interested.

“Could you get me the eggs?”

“Only if you say please,” He replied, prompting a sigh from Makoto as Byakuya put away his book.

“Please?” Byakuya smirked in response and walked over to the fridge, scanning it for eggs. After he spent a while looking, Makoto stopped watching him and wandered over to stand at his side.

“Can’t you find them?” Byakuya breathed out a sigh, which Makoto assumed meant yes. He quickly spotted the eggs in plain sight and reached out to grab the carton, prompting a soft ‘ah’ from Byakuya.

“Are you sure you know where things are, Byakuya?” Makoto asked, moving back over to the bench where another bowl was waiting for the wet ingredients.

“Yes, that was just so you could find them yourself.” Makoto raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. He turned to his new bowl and puffed out his cheeks, trying to think of the best way to do this. He saw a photo on the site which suggested you could simply do it with no other tools required, just cracking the egg and keeping the yolk in the eggshell, but Makoto wasn’t entirely sure he could achieve that.

Slowly, he cracked an egg open and tried to keep the yolk inside the shell, but he failed. Letting out a quiet ‘dangit’, he grabbed a tablespoon and lifted the yolk out without breaking it. He heard a scoff from where Byakuya was still standing next to him, so he looked up at him. Byakuya gave him a bored look and was about to move back to his spot leaning on the bench when Makoto spoke up.

“How do you separate egg whites?”

“You really don’t know?”

“Not really. Do you?” That made Byakuya narrow his eyes and roll up his sleeves.

“Of course I do,” He said simply, and held out his hand for an egg. Makoto quickly obliged, handing him one. Byakuya leaned forward over the bowl, focused. All at once, he smacked the egg forcefully on the corner of the bowl, getting raw egg all over the bench and Makoto’s apron. “Ah,” he said quietly.

“That was uh,” Makoto paused, trying to think of how to phrase this without offending him. “A little bit too violent, I think.” Byakuya shook his hand free of egg and grabbed another one, while Makoto spooned out the eggshell that had fallen into the bowl.

“Let me try again,” he murmured, pushing Makoto out of the way and leaning over the bowl once more. Yet again, he cracked the egg too hard, and it splattered over them both. He frowned, looking at the mess he’d made. Only a tiny bit of the egg whites they needed had even gone into the bowl. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped the egg out of the way, seemingly determined to try again. Makoto interrupted by grabbing an egg himself.

“Watch me,” he said, breaking the egg on the bowl. This time, he managed to keep the yolk inside the eggshell, which he grinned at. He glanced at Byakuya, who was watching him with heightened interest. He put the eggshell to the side and gestured for Byakuya to grab an egg. He did so and paused before tapping it really lightly on the side of the bowl.

“I don’t understand,” he said, tapping it again. The egg was not breaking. Makoto put his hand over Byakuya’s, which made him startle.

“Let me show you,” he offered. When Byakuya didn’t pull his hand away, Makoto gently guided it to tap the egg against the bowl. When it broke, Byakuya quickly emptied its contents into it. Makoto grinned and turned to him to see a small smile on his face. Byakuya noticed eyes on him and quickly schooled his expression back to his usual deadpan. Makoto smiled to himself and turned back to face the bench, wiping his hand on his apron and scooping out the yolk. There were definitely more than three eggs worth of egg whites, which was what the recipe asked for. Makoto shrugged, assuming it’d be fine as they added more dry ingredients than were listed anyway.

“Can you get me the butter?” Makoto asked, checking the recipe. “And the sour cream and milk,” He paused and looked up to see Byakuya raising an eyebrow at him. “Um, please?” Byakuya walked back over to the fridge and opened it, managing to actually find what he was looking for this time. He brought the three things back over, watching as Makoto measured out half a cup of milk.

“Put some more in.”

“But this is-”

“What the recipe says, yes, but all good chefs experiment.” He said, grabbing the carton from Makoto when he still paused and splashing some more milk in. Makoto shrugged and began measuring out the sour cream, looking back at the recipe.

“Oh, it wanted the milk warm,” He noted, looking up at Byakuya. “And the butter melted and the sour cream room temp-“

“What,” he retorted. “Did I just say?” He took the sour cream from Makoto’s hands and added a dollop, moving to the butter and doing the same. He then quirked his head at Makoto, silently instructing him to begin stirring. Makoto did so, and Byakuya took his phone, looking idly at the recipe. He walked over to a rack of small bottles Makoto hadn’t even begun to investigate, and brought back one of them, sloshing some into the bowl.

“Was that the vanilla extract?” Makoto asked, watching as he recapped the bottle and put it back. He was fairly sure that was way too much, if it was.

“Yes,” Byakuya said simply, returning to Makoto’s side and looking at the recipe again. It didn’t smell much like vanilla, so Makoto doubted the bottles true contents, but he shook off his confusion and decided to trust Byakuya’s judgement.

“I think it wants salt, too.” Byakuya narrowed his eyes, ignoring him. Makoto turned his eyes to Byakuya’s clothes, which had seen better days. There was egg spilt on his shirt that would have been easily avoided if he wore an apron.

“Maybe you should have worn an apron?” Byakuya seemingly only just noticed his clothes, glaring down at them.

“This is gross,” He said simply, moving to go wash it off. Makoto saw some more egg on his sleeves, too, and took a glance at the packet of flour lying open on the bench. Getting an idea that – worst case scenario, might get him killed, he put down the bowl and grabbed a bit of flour. While Byakuya’s back was turned, he took aim and hit the back of his neck, powder splattering down his collar and back. He instantly froze, turning around.

“What the hell did you just do?” He said, annoyed. Makoto looked at the flour packet, and the impact zone on his neck, unable to hold back a giggle. “You’re gonna pay for this.” He moved towards Makoto, and he was sure he was about to be seriously fined money for his expensive clothes or hit. He closed his eyes and tensed up, only to be greeted with a handful of flour on his face. He gasped, opening his eyes to see Byakuya smirking down at him.

In almost an instant, the room was chaos. Makoto grabbed the packet and started pelting Byakuya as he grabbed the baking soda and returned fire. Adrenaline rushing through his body and an action movie song playing in his head, Makoto used the bench as cover as the powder was splattered around him. Byakuya snuck up around the other side of the bench and poured a decent portion onto his head. He shook it off and stood up, whirling around.

“No fair! You’re taller than me so you have an advantage!” Makoto laughed out, throwing flour directly onto his face, which made him splutter.

“I have glasses! This is arguably an adequate handicap!” Byakuya argued, throwing some more at his stomach. He paused to wipe his glasses, and Makoto took his chance to book it to the other side of the kitchen. Byakuya gave chase, catching him on his back with baking soda.

Makoto grasped the last of the flour in the bag and threw it wildly, hitting Byakuya in the chest. Byakuya moved over and unceremoniously dumped the rest of the bag onto his head again. They both stepped back, panting and looking at each other.

Makoto started giggling, looking at how much of a wreck Byakuya’s usually neat clothes were, and feeling the powder on his own clothes and body as well. There was something so amusing about the whole situation.

To Makoto’s complete surprise, Byakuya started laughing too.

It was the first time Makoto had seen him laugh a real, carefree laugh, not a wry snicker but a deep, genuine chuckle. His whole face opened up; his usual scowl replaced with a grin that Makoto would never have pictured fitting so well. He was completely enraptured. There was something so special and _beautiful_ about Byakuya’s sincere joy with such a silly moment. He was usually so cagey with his emotions and expressions, it felt incredible to not only be witnessing it but to be the _cause_. The warmth from the sun shining through the drapes was nothing compared to the warmth Makoto felt. Byakuya reached under his glasses and wiped his eyes, finally noticing Makoto’s staring.

“W-what?” He asked, chuckling through his words with a grin still on his face. Makoto smiled at him.

“Nothing.”

After a minute or two spent brushing and shaking themselves off (though it didn’t do much - the powder felt like it had ingrained itself into Makoto’s skin), they returned to the cupcakes, combining the mixture. It was incredibly lumpy, which Byakuya was sure would mix out. After a few minutes of Makoto mixing, and then a few minutes of Byakuya being coerced into mixing, it was not looking very much like cupcake batter at all.

“I’m not sure this is how it’s supposed to look,” Makoto pointed out, watching Byakuya furiously mix.

“Well, we took some culinary risks with this recipe and modified it,” he stated simply. Makoto started lining the cupcake tin with cupcake liners. When he was finished, Byakuya moved to start pouring, but Makoto stopped him, raising a finger.

“We have to do a taste test first!” He exclaimed, moving to stick his finger into the batter. Byakuya recoiled, bringing the bowl with him.

“Don’t stick your filthy fingers into our precious cupcake batter,” he hissed, putting it down and grabbing a teaspoon. “We don’t know where your hands have been.”

“I washed my hands before I started cooking…” Makoto trailed off, watching as Byakuya took a small spoonful and ate it. His face instantly screwed up, but he tried to school it into a neutral expression.

“It’s… Um,” he paused. Makoto raised a finger again, silently asking if he could try some now. Byakuya nodded, holding out the bowl. “Nothing your germs can do will make this any worse.” He stuck his finger in and swiped a sample, popping it in his mouth. He recoiled immediately, sticking his tongue out and exclaiming disgustedly.

“This is awful!” He said, watching as Byakuya looked at the recipe again.

“I don’t understand,” his eyebrows scrunched together. “We added enough extra of a bunch of ingredients, it should taste decent, shouldn’t it?” He turned his gaze down to Makoto, who was desperately trying to avoid having to rush to put his mouth under the tap. “Did you do something?”

“Byakuya, I only followed your instructions… You said you could cook!” He accused, pointing a finger. Byakuya looked at their batter and the sad mess that was the kitchen. He let out a soft chuckle, looking at Makoto and how messed up his clothes and hair were. He then moved past him to begin pouring in the batter. Confused by the fact that Byakuya would even want to continue and not start again from scratch, Makoto questioned him. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to have wasted all this time,” he stated, moving slowly through the cupcake cases. “Without anything to show for it.” Makoto thought that over for a moment. He’d thought they’d have plenty of memories from today, but he supposed Byakuya would rather physical reminders. _Was he going to keep a cupcake forever? That might go mouldy._

“Maybe they’ll taste better once we’ve cooked them?” Makoto asked, hopes still somewhat high. _It was just like how boiling water got rid of germs!_ Byakuya finished filling them up and dumped the bowl in the sink, Makoto would usually ask if he could lick the bowl, but…

“We’ll see. Now, open the oven for me,” He picked up the tray and followed Makoto to the oven, giving a “what?” in question as Makoto stopped in his tracks when he got close.

“Byakuya…” He trailed off, turning around with his hands up in surrender.

“…What is it…” He said skeptical look on his face. Makoto closed his eyes.

“We forgot to preheat the oven.”

\----------

After berating Makoto (then admitting it was foolish of him to trust Makoto to remember, the closest to admitting he was to blame he could get), Byakuya eventually remembered they still had to make the icing.

At first, he tried to call his personal chef up and have them come back. When they didn’t answer, he reluctantly grabbed an apron to protect his already ruined clothes. He glared at Makoto, almost challenging him to comment.

“Because you ruined the cupcakes so badly,” He began, Makoto let out an affronted cry.

“It was your fault!”

“ _Because_ you ruined the cupcakes so badly, I am going to rectify this whole day by making the icing myself.” He said, beginning to look over the recipe on Makoto’s phone while Makoto found a clean bit of benchtop to sit on.

“Do you know what ‘confectioner’s sugar’ is, anyway?” Makoto asked, swinging his legs and watching as Byakuya puzzled over his phone. He looked up at Makoto sitting on the bench and glared at him, probably because he was sitting near where food was being prepared, but didn’t say anything about it.

“They’re just trying to use big words to confuse the readers. It’s the same thing as normal sugar.” He grabbed the sugar and poured it into a fresh bowl.

“Are you sure you don’t want to look it up anyway?” Makoto was immediately silenced with a glare from Byakuya. “I uh, I think it wants a stand mixer?” Yet again, the glare. His glares were always piercing, icy. However, Makoto had always managed to see a different side of Byakuya, so a lot of the fear he should feel at being glared at had been erased. He had always felt safe around Byakuya, he could see through the cracks in his strong façade. He knew now that he was genuinely having a good time, and some part of him liked having Makoto around. It was a nice feeling, being able to tell when Byakuya was enjoying himself.

Makoto tuned back in to see Byakuya adding a substantial amount of salt to the icing mix. He’d already added butter, cream and milk, but now he was pouring salt out of the container. Makoto was starting to dread trying this icing.

“That’s… a lot of salt, Byakuya.”

“Well, we didn’t add salt to the cupcakes themselves, so this should balance it out.” He explained almost happily as he finally added what he deemed ‘enough’. Makoto didn’t want to look at the contents of the bowl anymore. After a splash of vanilla extract, he began mixing.

“It said mix until fluffy but that was… with an actual mixer,” Makoto pointed out, Byakuya looked at him, frustrated.

“The more effort we put in, the better it will be,” he concluded. Makoto wasn’t sure if that was right, but it was best not to argue. After a while of mixing, he was beginning to look tired and was trying to communicate something with him through looks, but Makoto was just blinking at him, confused. Byakuya sighed, exasperated, and held out the bowl to him.

“Can you mix, please.” He stated, and Makoto hopped off the counter and complied immediately. Byakuya busied himself with checking on the oven and then fiddling with his phone.

After a few minutes, Makoto’s arms were tired and the mixture was still looking nowhere near ‘fluffy’. He put the bowl down on the bench and looked at Byakuya tiredly.

“Byakuya, I don’t think it’s going to get fluffy.” Byakuya narrowed his eyes, looking at the bowl. Eventually, he shrugged and put the bowl on a slightly cleaner space on the bench. They both paused to survey the kitchen and the absolute mess it was in. There was flour and baking soda dusted everywhere, as expected after their battle. There was egg all over a good section of the kitchen, splattered over the floor and splashback. Every ingredient they’d used was still left out, and the dishes they’d used were scattered around. Makoto turned to Byakuya, sighing. “We are not leaving this to your poor cleaners.”

Apparently, in the usually flawless and immaculate kitchen, their dishwasher was broken, so Makoto found himself hands deep in the dishes, wearing some gloves Byakuya gave him despite his protests that he was already grubby. It gave Makoto some solace knowing that not _everything_ was perfect in this house. Byakuya was drying the dishes Makoto had finished washing, usually after pointing out a bit he’d missed (that Makoto couldn’t even _see_ ). The system was working quite well until Byakuya decided to go and clean the egg from the floor, and they started piling up.

The cupcakes finished cooking halfway through the clean-up, so Byakuya ditched that to take them out. Makoto told him not to add the icing yet, in case it melted everywhere, but of course, Makoto did not expect him to listen. And, being Byakuya, he didn’t listen. They had a full piping set in their kitchen, with tools many aspiring chefs could only dream of. Byakuya chose the most flowery looking nozzle and set to work while Makoto was drying the dishes and setting them in a pile for Byakuya to put away. After many frustrated sighs, Makoto finished drying and walked over, looking around his arm to see what he was doing.

It was… a mess. There was icing everywhere, and it wasn’t staying on the cupcakes well at all. Noticing he was there, Byakuya’s cheeks flushed slightly as he glared at the icing bag.

“You couldn’t do any better, Naegi,” he said, teeth gritted. Makoto grinned at him.

“I know, it’s just strange to see you struggling with something for once.”

“I’m not _struggling,_ this was on purpose.” He grumbled, moving on to try and get the icing to stand up even a tiny bit. He was avoiding Makoto’s gaze, intent on scowling at the cupcakes.

“So, you wanted them to look like…. deflated uh… whatevers?”

“Eloquent phrasing,” Byakuya replied, moving back and watching as the icing he just put on melted. He sighed, putting the piping bag down and finally turning to look at Makoto. “Was I really meant to wait for them to cool?” Makoto laughed.

“Probably.” There was a pause as they both looked at the horrific result of all their hard work. Makoto met Byakuya’s eyes, a mischievous smile on his face. “We should try them.”

They sat on the still-messy floor, facing each other with a cupcake in hand. Makoto counted down from five as they both took a bite. It was absolutely disgusting. The batter was tame compared to the absolute travesty that took over Makoto’s tastebuds. He immediately couldn’t handle it and ran to the rubbish bin, spitting it out. Byakuya had a strained expression on his face as he continued chewing. Makoto rushed to the sink and shoved his mouth under the tap, lapping up water to try and rid his mouth of the cupcake aftertaste.

After he recovered, he returned to sit on the floor opposite Byakuya, watching as he slowly but surely made his way through it with a pained face.

“Are you going to eat all of it?” Makoto exclaimed, in awe of Byakuya’s ability to ignore his body’s reflexes and persevere. Byakuya swallowed, grimacing.

“They taste,” He paused, making another face. “They taste fine.”

“I’m not sure if ‘fine’ is a great way to describe them, Byakuya.” Makoto watched as he took another mouthful, wincing. “Your face is saying they are very _not_ fine.”

“My face says nothing, it is an excellent poker face that I have spent years perfecting,” he said, face scrunching up quickly.

“Uh-huh.” Makoto was holding in laughter.

“Shut up, Naegi,” Byakuya replied, finishing the final piece. After he chewed and swallowed, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Did you really finish it all? Open up.” Makoto requested, which Byakuya complied to with an irritated expression. Sure enough, his mouth was clear. “Wow. I’m genuinely impressed.”

“You should be. You couldn’t even swallow one bite,” Byakuya laid down on his back, stretching out. It reminded Makoto of a cat. He moved over to lie down next to him. The floor was nowhere near clean, but their clothes were just as messy, so neither of them cared. There was a silence as they both reflected on their afternoon, Byakuya tapping his nails on the tiles absentmindedly.

“I can’t believe you can’t crack an egg,” Makoto began, which made Byakuya groan and cover his face. He turned on his side to face Byakuya and continued. “No, seriously. Were you never taught how to cook?”

“We have a _chef_ , Makoto,” Byakuya grumbled, turning to face him. It was rare that Makoto got to see how he was feeling; Byakuya was usually hiding behind his words and practiced neutral expression. But lying there, on the mess of the kitchen floor, Makoto saw through any wall he was still trying to keep up. He was _happy_. On an impulse, he reached out and grabbed his hand. Byakuya looked down at their hands and intertwined them, smiling softly.

They found themselves lost in the serene moment. They still had more to do, but neither of them found themselves caring. The gentle atmosphere that they had found themselves in was too special to interrupt. Makoto met Byakuya’s eyes, and they just looked at each other. Makoto had always loved Byakuya’s eyes, even if he generally saw a lot of negative emotions in his expressions. Whether it was disgust, anger or annoyance, they were usually prevalent on his face, and always so _strong_. However, in this moment, all Makoto could see was a peaceful happiness. It was such a tender and out-of-place look on his face that it made the feeling that Makoto had been feeling in his gut all day a billion times more intense.

He liked happy Byakuya a lot, and something told him the more he stuck around, the happier he would be.

“Thank you,” Byakuya said, stroking his thumb across the back of Makoto’s hand. Makoto made a small noise of confusion, so he continued. “For today. All of it. It… I had a lot of fun.” He murmured, and Makoto smiled, filled with an urge to kiss him.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, squeezing his hand.

Eventually, the powder in their clothes and the tiles got too uncomfortable, and they had to get back up and ruin the moment.

Makoto didn’t plan for a battle of cupcake ingredients, so of course, he hadn’t brought a change of clothes. After poking around in his walk-in closet, Byakuya returned to Makoto with a set of pyjamas that looked far too big for him, expressing that they were ‘the only thing he could find’ that could possibly fit. He instructed Makoto to use his private bathroom, which confused him.

“Don’t you have, like, a bajillion showers?” Byakuya rummaged through a cupboard for a towel before returning to him and replying.

“Yes, but they don’t have any soap or anything in them, and it’s not quite a _bajillion_ , which isn’t even a number.” Makoto raised an eyebrow, causing Byakuya to roll his eyes and push him towards the bathroom. “Just go, Naegi.”

Makoto walked into the bathroom, shutting the door before looking around in amazement.

Byakuya’s bathroom was… Incredible. His room was impressive enough, but Makoto had never been in a place that gave off an aura of wealthiness. There were dark tiles crossed with what looked like gold, a double sink in front of a large mirror next to the biggest bathtub Makoto had ever seen. There were large exotic plants dotted around, and the shower had two showerheads. Makoto shook off his bewilderment and after putting his change of clothes down on the dark marble counter, he finally got a look at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess, filled with powder and various other ingredients, and his clothes looked like he’d dumped flour over himself. Which he sort of had.

Eager to get rid of the gross powdery feeling on his skin, he quickly changed out of his clothes and walked to the shower, the bathmat was soft and fluffy under his feet. He forgot that people actually had proper bathmats and didn’t just use handtowels like in his house. There was a shelf in the shower that had miscellaneous bottles, and Makoto perused it as he turned on the tap.

After washing his hair and body approximately three times to get rid of the flour and baking soda, Makoto towelled off and got dressed. The pyjamas came to way past his hands and feet, and he had to hike the pants up to walk. Between wearing his clothes and now smelling faintly like pine and peppermint, Makoto felt like some kind of mocking imposter of Byakuya.

He bundled up his dirty clothes and grabbed his shoes, wandering back into Byakuya’s bedroom. He was standing in the middle of the room, reading his book. Makoto guessed he didn’t want to get anything dirty. As he practically tripped out the door, Byakuya looked up and immediately started smiling at him, puffing out laughter.

“What,” Makoto forced an annoyed tone, struggling to keep a smile from appearing. Byakuya put his book down on his desk and walked over to grab Makoto’s messy clothes, a pleased grin on his face.

“You look even smaller than usual,” he chuckled, looking him up and down before walking towards the door with his clothes. Makoto sighed, agreeing.

“Clothes too big,” He said simply. He heard Byakuya’s laughter as he walked down the hallway towards what was assumedly the laundry, which made Makoto grin.

Now left alone in Byakuya’s room, Makoto had a chance to look around. There was a massive bookshelf lined with thick volumes next to a desk covered with neat stacks of various papers. There was a shelf above the desk that had various trophies from what Makoto guessed was Byakuya’s old schools.

On the other side of the door, there was a fish tank. Makoto leaned in to watch as some neon tetras darted around, and angelfish swam up to see if he was food. A few catfish were hiding behind a huge fake sunken ship, and various other plants dotted around. Byakuya had never mentioned that he had fish, but Makoto had seen him tending to or looking at the fish tanks at their school once or twice when he thought no one was looking.

Opposite the fish tank and next to the closet door was a chest of drawers, on top of which was another smaller fish tank. This tank housed a green betta along with a few floating plants and a small sea snail. Makoto was startled as Byakuya came back into the room

“That’s Jeremy,” he said, slipping his shoes off and shaking them free of excess powder before walking over to where Makoto was standing. “He’s one year old. The snail is called Martha.” Makoto made a hum of acknowledgement while they watched Jeremy swim. “In the other tank are Renegade and Leonard the angel fish, John, Whiskers and Peanut the catfish, and Brie, Cheddar, Gouda, Parmesan and Feta the neon tetras.” Makoto struggled to keep up as Byakuya listed off his fish.

“Wait… Cheese?” He looked at Byakuya, who shrugged sheepishly.

“I ran out of ideas for names.”

“Aren’t you lactose intolerant?”

“Only a little,” Byakuya said, moving behind Makoto to rest his chin on his head, wrapping his arms around him to hug him. “I’m surprised you remembered.” They stood there for a little while, watching Jeremy while Makoto leaned back into the embrace. It was rare that Byakuya initiated contact, so Makoto was content to bask in the closeness. He must have had a good day and feel really happy to hug him like this.

Makoto went to rest his hands on Byakuya’s, before feeling the powder and immediately jumping away from him, letting out a screech.

“You’re still dirty!” He exclaimed, shaking himself off. Byakuya chuckled at him, face pulled into a grin once again. Makoto couldn’t even feel annoyed when he was this happy, so he rolled his eyes and shoved him gently. “You’re mean.”

“Uh huh,” Byakuya said simply, nudging Makoto with his elbow.

“Don’t elbow me! You’re bony.” Byakuya merely laughed in response. After yet another pause spent watching the fish, Byakuya spoke up again.

“Do you want to feed them?”

“Oh! Yes please!” Makoto exclaimed, watching as Byakuya reached behind the tank and grabbed a tube of pelleted fish food. Jeremy seemingly knew what was happening, as he started swimming back and forth in excitement. Byakuya handed Makoto the tube and a small measuring cup that had a hand-drawn line on it.

“Fill it to the line,” he instructed, pointing to it as if it wasn’t blatantly obvious. “If they get any more their tank gets messy.” Makoto filled the pellets up to the line, smiling at how much thought and effort Byakuya put into taking care of his pets. He tipped the contents of the cup into the tank and they both watched as Jeremy began eating them.

“He’s really pretty.”

“I’m glad you agree,” Byakuya said, and Makoto didn’t miss the small smile on his face as he walked towards his closet to grab a change of clothes for himself. Makoto continued watching Jeremy, enraptured. He was startled again as Byakuya called out to him. “You know, you can sit down. You don’t have to stay standing.”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry.”

“Why are you apologising?” Byakuya asked, coming back with casual clothes in his arms. Makoto blinked at him.

“I don’t know,” he replied, putting a finger to his cheek in thought. Byakuya moved towards the bathroom.

“Then don’t needlessly apologise.”

“Sor- Ah…” Makoto cut himself off, flushing. Byakuya rolled his eyes and sighed fondly before closing the door, leaving Makoto to think for a moment before shrugging it off and continuing to watch Jeremy.

After watching the fish eat for a little while, Makoto hiked up Byakuya’s pyjama pants and moved on to look at the small seating area. Plush couches that looked too expensive and new to be comfortable, and a large window with a glass door out to a small balcony overlooking the scenery. Next to those was another bookshelf, this one with various knick-knacks and a few books that Makoto had seen Byakuya reading many times. Some of the shelves had miscellaneous photos of Byakuya and his family, but Makoto was shocked when he saw a framed picture of the two of them.

It was from a day they’d spent at the beach (at Aoi’s insistence), Makoto had snapped a photo of the two of them as they were heading back home. Makoto had sunscreen across his face, and Byakuya was wearing a large sunhat, but somehow had still managed to get red shoulders. They both looked happily tired, Makoto grinning at the camera and Byakuya staring at him with a look in his eye that Makoto couldn’t quite place. Makoto remembered Byakuya asking him to send him the photo but hadn’t thought much of it since. It made sincere happiness well up inside of him that it was important enough for him to print out and frame. Such a heartfelt and sweet gesture that Byakuya would never mention, and probably brush off if it was brought up.

In the corner of the room was a swinging seat, quite a large one too. It could probably fit more than one person. Next to it was a bedside table and then, of course, Byakuya’s bed. It was a massive black bed with a dark canopy over the top, and the fabric over it looked like a galaxy. The headboard was plush, with a shelf above it. Makoto supposed Byakuya had always had extravagant beds like this one, but it left him with such amazement that he felt like he shouldn’t even touch it.

Makoto chose to take a cautious seat on one of the small couches. As he’d expected, it didn’t feel comfortable at all. He sat and watched outside the window as he waited, seeing birds fly by as it got closer to sunset. He hadn’t planned to sleep over, and Byakuya would probably send him to a guest room if he did, which Makoto felt ruined the entire point of sleepovers. He was pondering the size and price of Byakuya’s bed and whether he’d let him sleep there while sinking further into the couch when Byakuya finally came out of the bathroom and went to dump his clothes in the laundry. He acknowledged Makoto with a nod before leaving, something that Makoto was beginning to feel too sleepy to return.

He came back in and Makoto finally paid enough attention to notice what he was wearing. It was a hoodie and sweatpants. For most people, that was normal attire, but for Byakuya, it felt out of place to see him so… casual. Byakuya saw him staring, mouth agape and scoffed.

“What, am I not allowed to wear other clothes?” When Makoto didn’t have an answer, he continued. “Did you think I slept in a dress shirt and blazer?”

“Well,” Makoto began, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. “Kinda?” Byakuya sighed in response, a fond smile on his face.

“Come here,” he said quietly, moving towards his desk and grabbing the book he placed there earlier before clambering onto his bed and propping himself up on the pillows. Makoto stood up and walked over to his bed, head cocked in confusion. Byakuya rolled his eyes and opened his arms, gesturing for Makoto to curl up next to him. He complied, crawling over to him and leaning his head on his chest, wrapping an arm around his torso. Byakuya draped his arm over Makoto, and he snuggled down.

Makoto had always felt comfortable around Byakuya. He felt comfortable around almost everyone, but Byakuya was someone who seemed to try his hardest to push people away, someone who acted as if he hated being talked to or included. Makoto had always seen past that. Byakuya was someone who craved genuine connections with people but had issues opening up. For that reason, many had just written him off as mean, or one-dimensional. Sure, Makoto had put up with some rude remarks here and there, but he could tell Byakuya never meant any harm. He just wasn’t quite sure how to be friends with people, he wasn’t used to people genuinely wanting to be around him. As they’d grown closer, they’d both gradually become more and more touchy with each other. Makoto wasn’t really sure why, but it just felt natural to hold his hand, or lean on him. He had never wanted to question what they were in case Byakuya freaked out, so he’d just gone along with it.

And so here he lay, cuddled up to Byakuya, who was in a _hoodie,_ under the galaxy printed canopy of his bed. It was almost surreal. His gut was churning with feelings he still didn’t quite understand, his head spinning with questions he felt too cozy to voice. He didn’t want to disturb Byakuya from rubbing small circles on his arm and humming to himself as he read.

After a little while, Byakuya put his book down and started fiddling with Makoto’s hand. Byakuya’s hands were long, his fingers slender. Makoto had always thought they looked elegant and pretty; they matched the rest of him. Byakuya’s hands dwarfed Makoto’s in comparison but always made him feel safe. Byakuya slotted their fingers together and squeezed his hand, Makoto squeezing back. Byakuya sucked in a breath like he was going to say something a few times, and just before Makoto was about to ask what he wanted to say, he finally managed to get the words out.

“I like… spending time with you, Makoto,” he breathed out quietly, leaning his cheek on Makoto’s head. Makoto smiled.

“I like spending time with you, too, Byakuya,” he said gently, and he felt Byakuya let out a relieved breath. He paused for a moment, lifting his head and pressing a soft kiss into Makoto’s hair. Makoto hummed happily, snuggling closer to Byakuya and closing his eyes, feeling the rise and fall of his chest and quick thumping of his heart.

In the end, he would wait however long Byakuya needed to admit to himself that whatever they had had passed friendship a long time ago. It didn’t matter if they were making horrible cupcakes or just being stupid together, as long as he could spend as much time as possible making Byakuya happy, Makoto was content.

**Author's Note:**

> https://preppykitchen.com/moist-vanilla-cupcake-recipe/ is the recipe they butchered <3  
> i hope you enjoyed!! this took surprisingly less time than my previous fic and i'm pretty proud of it :)


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